Taste: Like it smells, a juicy, earthy, and pretty spicy hop driven taste with good notes of rye, grass, and pine. Upfront presence of juicy and oily hops with earthy and herbal notes of damp grass and pine resin. Also some citrus hop notes of orange peel, grapefruit, lemon, melon, and tangerine. Good taste of the rye spicing along with sweet malt notes of caramel, grains, biscuit, and yeast. A really nice taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Juicy, oily, and very drying. Some alcohol heat is felt but things aren’t overly hot.

Overall: A pretty good spicy take on an Imperial IPA. The rye mixes well with the spicy and juicy hops.

Why do I always get burnt by Great Divide IPAs other than the Fresh Hop Pale ale I really don’t think I’ve ever cared for their IPAs other than Titan fresh. The rye in this beer is stealing the show at first smell, but on a bright note it has a great burgundy shade of caramel ruby with a light shade of khaki head forming thick. Bottled on June 19th, 2014, so freshness shouldn’t be an issue here, label jumped out at me with the two bucks engaging and about to lock antlers.

Flavor this reminds me of some Bath and Body Works gift I received in my teens from one of my great aunts it was musky and piney, meant to use in the shower but at the time I didn’t think I wanted to smell like the outdoors and a big dose of lumberjack so I ditched it for some Davidoff Cool Water the quintessential late 90s fragrance to get some tail with. However, these big pine notes and musky rye additions bring me back to Bath and Body Works circa 1997! The muddled malts, rye spice, dirty water, and a blend of earthy/herbal/pine accented hops leave me wanting something else hoppy.

Mouthfeel is complex with big malts, more bitter earthy/pine lingering, and the alcohol becomes quite unpleasant as the beer begins to warm…hop burps are burning my nares with fusel alcohols and crushed pine needles. Full bodied DIPA only listed as a RYE IPA but at 8.3% I’m calling it a double.

Overall harsh and beaten up the palate is drained from attempting to drink this big bottle solo, I should take a nap now!